Self-wrapping textile sleeve with protective coating and method of construction thereof

ABSTRACT

A self-wrapping, textile sleeve for routing and protecting elongate members from exposure to abrasion, thermal and other environmental conditions and method on construction thereof. The sleeve has an elongate wall constructed from interlaced yarns having interstices between adjacent yarns. At least one of the yarns is heat formed at one temperature to form the wall as a self-wrapping wall curling about a longitudinal axis of the sleeve. The wall has an inner surface providing a generally tubular cavity in which the elongate members are received. The wall also has an outer surface with a cured layer thereon. The cured layer is cured at the one temperature at which the yarns are heat formed into their self-wrapping configuration, wherein the cured layer fills the interstices between adjunct yarns to form an impervious layer on the wall.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This Divisional application claims the benefit of U.S. Utilityapplication Ser. No. 12/553231, filed Sep. 3, 2009 and U.S. ProvisionalApplication Ser. No. 61/094,557, filed Sep. 5, 2008, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

This invention relates generally to sleeves for protecting elongatemembers, and more particularly to self-wrapping textile sleeves.

2. Related Art

It is known to wrap wires and wire harnesses in protective sleeves, suchas in automobiles, aircraft or aerospace craft, to provide protection tothe wires against abrasion, fluid and thermal effects. In order toachieve the desired protection, the protective sleeve may have multiplelayers, with some of the layers being specifically provided fordifferent types of protection. For example, one layer may be providedfor water resistance, e.g. a sheet of plastic material, while anotherlayer may be provided for abrasion resistance, and yet another layer maybe provided for protection against thermal conditions, e.g. a non-wovenlayer. Unfortunately, although the aforementioned multilayer sleeves mayprovide suitable protection against the various environmentalconditions, they typically are bulky, thereby being relatively heavy andexhibiting limited flexibility. This can prove troublesome in someapplications, particularly applications requiring routing through tight,winding areas, and applications having weight restrictions, such asaircraft and aerospace applications, for example. In addition, themultilayered sleeves typically come at an increased cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the invention provides a self-wrapping, textile sleeve forrouting and protecting elongate members from exposure to abrasion,thermal and other environmental conditions, such as exposure to fluid.The sleeve has an elongate wall constructed from interlaced yarns havinginterstices between adjacent yarns. At least one of the yarns is heatformed at one temperature to form the wall as a self-wrapping wallcurling about a longitudinal axis of the sleeve. The wall has an innersurface providing a generally tubular cavity in which the elongatemembers are received. The wall also has an outer surface with a curedlayer thereon. The cured layer is cured at the one temperature at whichthe yarns are heat formed into their self-wrapping configuration,wherein the cured layer fills the interstices between adjunct yarns toform an impervious layer to liquid on the wall.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method ofconstructing a self-wrapping, textile sleeve for routing and protectingelongate members is provided. The method includes interlacing aplurality of yarns to form a wall having opposite outer and innersurfaces. Then, applying a liquid coating to the outer surface. Further,heat forming the wall to take on a self-wrapping configuration at onetemperature with the inner surface providing a tubular cavity. Furtheryet, curing the liquid coating at the one temperature during the heatforming step to provide an impervious layer to fluid on the outersurface of the wall.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other aspects, features and advantages will become readilyapparent to those skilled in the art in view of the following detaileddescription of presently preferred embodiments and best mode, appendedclaims, and accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1A is a schematic perspective partial view of a textile,self-wrapping sleeve constructed in accordance with one aspect of theinvention carrying and protecting elongate members therein;

FIG. 1B is a schematic perspective partial view of a textile,self-wrapping sleeve constructed in accordance with another aspect ofthe invention carrying and protecting elongate members therein;

FIG. 1C is a schematic perspective partial view of a textile,self-wrapping sleeve constructed in accordance with yet another aspectof the invention carrying and protecting elongate members therein;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic partial cross-sectional view of thesleeve of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2A is a view similar to FIG. 2 of a sleeve constructed according toanother aspect of the invention; and

FIG. 3 is process flow diagram illustrating a method of constructing atextile, self-wrapping sleeve in accordance with yet another aspect ofthe invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring in more detail to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a schematic viewof textile, self-wrapping sleeve, referred to hereafter as sleeve 10,constructed in accordance with one aspect of the invention. The sleeve10 has a self-wrapping elongate wall 12 for routing and protectingelongate members, such as wires or a wire harness 14, for example, fromexposure to abrasion, thermal and other environmental conditions, suchas exposure to fluid. The elongate wall 12 has an outer surface 15 andan inner surface 17, with the wall 12 being constructed from at leastone, and preferably a plurality of interlaced yarns 16. At least one ofthe yarns 16 is heat set to bias the wall 12 into a self-wrappingtubular configuration, wherein the inner surface 17 is self-curled abouta longitudinal axis 18 to provide an enclosed tubular inner cavity 20when the wall 12 is in its relaxed state with an external force actingto uncurl the wall 12 from its self-wrapped configuration. The cavity 20is readily accessible along the longitudinal axis 18 of the sleeve 10 sothat the elongate members 14 can be readily disposed radially into thecavity 20, and conversely, removed from the cavity 20, such as duringservice. To provide further protection to the elongate members 14 withinthe sleeve, a protective film, referred to hereafter as layer 22, iscured on the outer surface 15, as better shown in FIG. 2. The layer 22is abrasion resistant, and provides an impervious barrier to fluid, suchas water, for example. In addition, the layer 22 provides protection tothe elongate members 14 against external radiant heat, up to about 200degrees Celsius. With the protection provided by the layer 22, thethickness of the interlaced wall 12 can be minimized, whereupon thedenier and/or diameter of the yarns 16 can be reduced while providingincreased protection to the wires 14. For example, the denier of theyarns 16 can be 800 denier or less. Accordingly, the sleeve 10 providesenhanced protection against abrasion, heat and fluid while at the sametime being economical in manufacture, and having a reduced weight.

The wall 12 can be constructed having any suitable size, includinglength, diameter and wall thickness. The wall 12 has opposite sides 24,26 extending generally parallel to the axis 18 that terminate atopposite ends, with one end 28 shown. When the wall 12 is in itsself-wrapped tubular configuration, generally free from any externallyapplied forces, the sides 24, 26 can overlap one another at leastslightly to fully enclose the cavity 20 circumferentially, and thus, thewall 12 provides enhanced protection to the wires 14 contained in thecavity 20 about a full circumference of the wall 12. The sides 24, 26are readily extendable away from one another under an externally appliedforce to at least partially open and expose the cavity 20. Accordingly,the wires 14 can be readily disposed into the cavity 20 during assemblyor removed from the cavity 20 during service. Upon releasing theexternally applied force, the sides 24, 26 return automatically under abias imparted from being heat set to their relaxed, overlappingself-wrapped position.

The wall 12 can be constructed from multifilament and/or monofilamentyarns, with at least one or more of the yarns being heat-settable. Forexample, one or more of the yarns 16 can be provided as a heat-settablepolymeric material, such as polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), for example,which can be heat set at a temperature of about 200-225 degrees Celsius.The wall 12 can be woven (FIG. 1A), knit (FIG. 1B), or braided (FIG.1C), from the yarns 16, as desired. As such, voids, also referred to asinterstices 32, are inherently formed between adjacent yarns 16. Theinterstices 32 extend through the thickness of the wall 12, and thus,provide open passages from the outer surface 15 through the innersurface 17 and into the cavity 20.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, upon forming the textile wall 12 with theinterlaced yarns 16, whether using a braiding, knitting or weavingapparatus, the layer 22 is formed on the outer surface 15 of the wall12. The layer 22 is initially applied as a liquid coating, such as byspraying, brushing, dipping or roll coating, for example, onto the outersurface 15 of the wall 12. As shown in FIG. 2A, a layer 22′ can also beformed to cover the inner surface 17, particularly if a dipping processis used to apply the liquid coating to the interlaced yarns 16. Theliquid coating is provided as a fluorocarbon polymer, such asfluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP), and can be purchased under thename EterniTex 67-002/D8436 from Whitford Corporation out of Elverson,Pa. The liquid coating has a content of about 65% fluorine and about a18-22% polymeric solid content by weight. Upon applying the liquidcoating to the outer surface 15, the liquid coating is cured byapplication of heat. The heat imparted is sufficient to cause thepolymer particles in the liquid coating to melt and coalesce, therebyconverting the liquid coating to form the continuous thin film or layer22 on the outer surface 15. Preferably, the coating is cured during theheating process used to heat-set the PPS yarns 16 in the wall into theirself-curling configuration. As such, the liquid coating is cured to formthe layer 22 on the outer surface 15 as an impervious barrier to liquidin the same heating process and at the same temperature used to form thewall 12 into a self-curling substrate. Accordingly, the manufacturingprocess used to form the self-curling sleeve 10 is economical. Uponcuring the liquid coating, the layer 22, forming an impervious barrier,completely fills the interstices 32 and extends radially outwardly fromthe outer surface 15, thereby providing the wall 12 with its ability toprotect the cavity 20 against the ingress of liquid. In addition, withthe layer 22 extending radially outwardly from the interlaced yarns 16,the layer 22 provides complete circumferential protection to the yarns16 of the wall 12 against abrasion. Although completely filling theinterstices 32, the layer 22 can be formed to stop short of reaching theinner surface 17, and thus, the inner surface 17 can be formed free orsubstantially free of the layer 22. Otherwise, as shown in FIG. 2A, thelayer 22 can also be formed to extend flush with or extend past theinner surface 17, thereby covering the inner surface 17 and completelyencapsulating the interlaced yarns 16, if desired.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present inventionare possible in light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to beunderstood that within the scope of the appended claims, the inventionmay be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of constructing a self-wrapping, textilesleeve for routing and protecting elongate members, comprising: formingan interlaced textile wall having interstices extending between oppositeouter and inner surfaces; applying a liquid coating to the outersurface; heat forming the wall into a self-wrapping configuration at onetemperature with the inner surface providing a tubular cavity; andcuring the liquid coating at the one temperature during the heat formingstep.
 2. The method of claim 1 further including converting the liquidcoating to form an impervious layer on the outer surface during thecuring step.
 3. The method of claim 2 further including filling theinterstices with the impervious layer and forming the impervious layeron the inner surface.
 4. The method of claim 2 further including leavingthe inner surface substantially free of said impervious layer.
 5. Themethod of claim 1 further including providing the liquid coating as afluorocarbon polymer.
 6. The method of claim 1 further including weavingthe wall.
 7. The method of claim 1 further including braiding the wall.8. The method of claim 1 further including knitting the wall.